NBA Rumors: How much will Chicago Bulls pay Nikola Mirotić ?

Although the Chicago Bulls are hoping to land a big fish like New York Knicks’ forward Carmelo Anthony or Minnesota Timberwolves’ power forward Kevin Love, they own the rights to a very talented prospect that could help them next season.

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That prospect is 6’10, 220-pound forward Nikola Mirotić, who currently plays for Real Madrid. The Bulls acquired Mirotić in the 2011 NBA Draft and are reportedly set to start negotiations with Mirotić .

Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders examines how much it would take to bring Mirotić over this season.

"How much would it take to get Mirotic at this point? Because Mirotic is limited to negotiating with the Bulls, they should be able to get him far more cheaply than on the open market. The best figures I have found on Mirotic’s current salary indicate he makes approximately $1.4 million per year, with a buyout of approximately $3.4 million. The Bulls can pay $600,000 of this buyout. It might then be realistic to sign Mirotic to a three-year contract starting at $3.5 million per year with the maximum allowable 4.5 percent annual raises. For this contract, his maximum 15 percent signing bonus of approximately $1.6 million, the maximum allowable salary advance of 25 percent of his $2.9 million base salary at signing and then another 25 percent on the earliest allowable date of October 1 would enable him to pay his buyout with Real Madrid assuming some modicum of flexibility from the Spanish club on the payment date. He would still keep about $1.5 million for 2014-15, followed by $3.1 million and $3.2 million the next two years. That would exceed his Real Madrid salary and allow him to move up the timeline on a second contract.* Moreover, he could likely deduct his buyout against income for tax purposes."

Mirotić averaged 13.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game this season.

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